Marshall earns shooting sport scholarship; state's top honor for Ohio Claybuster coach

Skylar Marshall may not have been the girl you would have picked six years ago to earn her team’s first-ever college scholarship, but she proved it’s not how you start out, but how you finish that’s important.

The recent Chippewa High School grad earned an academic and shooting sports scholarship to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, by plugging away in the shotgun sports.

“She started with the program when she was 10 or 11 and has come up all the way through it,” said her Ohio Claybusters coach, Don Witner. “She was never a star, but then decided to really concentrate on shooting and then she took off.”

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Marshall also brings personality and spunk to her team, something she thinks helped sell her to the Lindenwood coaching staff.

“No. 1, I’m a good shooter,” said Marshall as to why she thinks Lindenwood offered her a scholarship, “but I’m also smart and personable. I think they think I will represent the team well.

“This is an amazing opportunity,” she continued. “I’m excited about keeping my shooting career going.”

'I hope other girls take it and run with it'

Marshall has also made an impact on the Ohio Claybusters team and with many other as well, showing there are lots of paths to earning a college scholarship.

“A lot of people have reached out to me asking how I got a scholarship,” she said. “Hopefully other kids will start looking for other opportunities to get a scholarship. Shooting is an option in college, and I hope other girls take it and run with it.

“Hopefully this will motivate a lot of people.”

Still, Marshall’s rise to being a good enough shooter to earn a scholarship ultimately is what sealed the offer.

Mixing up the disciplines is attractive to colleges

“She started shooting other disciplines, like skeet, bunker trap and sporting clays with the North Ridgeville High School team, and that’s what colleges are looking for – they want athletes that shoot all the disciplines,” said Witner.

In fact, Marshall left this week for the National Championships in skeet in Mason, Michigan, after finishing as the No. 2 female skeet shooter in the state, and when she returns from Michigan, she will join her Ohio Claybusters teammates at the Scholastic Clay Target Program Nationals in Marengo, just north of Columbus.

So, why did Marshall, who is the daughter of Webster and Leslee Marshall of Doylestown, take off as a scholastic shooter in her senior season?

“I think it was her dedication,” Witner said. “You need that trigger time and practice time. She was shooting three and four nights a week, and competing in different events.

“She got the bug, and she just took off.”

Shooting on two teams, Marshall said she actually was practicing five nights a week, “and I’d often pick up another night on my own.”

“I never took it this serious. Shooting is supposed to be fun, and it is, but I actually bore down this year,” said Marshall, who plans on majoring in health administration at Lindenwood, with a minor in entrepreneurship. “Right now I’m best at trap, but I hope to be a skeet shooter in college. My mind enjoys it the most. I’ve been shooting trap for so long that it’s becoming boring.”

Coach picked up an Ohio SCPT award in the spring

Marshall wasn’t the only Ohio Claybuster to get rewarded for her hard work, as Witner himself picked up some hardware this spring as he was named the Ohio SCTP Coach of the Year.”

“I got nominated and all the coaches across Ohio voted,” said Witner. “I’m pretty excited about it. It’s pretty cool.”

Besides heading up the Ohio Claybusters program, which shoots out of Wooster’s Silver Dollar Sportsman’s Club, Witner also coaches “trainers,” who help certify shooting sports coaches in everything from range safety to practice techniques and team management. Witner also credited his Ohio Claybusters assistant coaches for helping him earn the COY honor.

Claybusters is 42 shooters strong; 'Our team is definitely a family'

His own Ohio Claybusters team is 42 shooters strong, representing 10 school districts, including Hiland, West Holmes, Wooster, Chippewa, Smithville, Waynedale, Triway, Northwest, Barberton and Revere.

“Our team is definitely a family,” said Witner, noting “we have a huge cross section of everything from sizes to hair styles to skills. And our parents are like all other sports parents – they\'re all in it for the kids. They mow the grass, cook the hot dogs and fix what’s broken.”

The Buckeye-Chippewa Youth Shooting Sports team, which is coming off a state championship in the High Overall (top five in trap, sporting clays and skeet), will be another local squad shooting at the SCTP Nationals July 9-16 in Marengo.

Over 3,500 youth will be competing, representing over 300 teams from across the nation. The Cardinal Shooting Center has brought in 12 semi-trucks of clay targets for the event, where it is estimated 2.5 million rounds will be fired.

Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Doylestown sharp-shooter buckles down and ups the game